Buffalo Grove approves lower wages for new hires

Buffalo Grove trustees gave their approval Monday to a new salary structure for employees that in the long run is likely to save the village money.

It establishes new pay ranges for the upcoming year that include a lower entry level salary for new employees.

Finance Director Scott Anderson said one of the pay tiers, Tier II, “starts all new employees off at (approximately) 10 percent less. It basically takes the bottom of our salary range and lowers it even further, so new employees would be starting at a lower rate. It also would take them more time to progress up to the top of their pay range.”

The majority of the pay ranges have not changed. The village is giving all nonunion employees a general wage increase that averages 2 percent next year. Firefighter/paramedics will get a 3.5 percent increase under their union contract and fire lieutenants will get 2.5 percent.

Trustee Jeffrey Berman commended village staff and the fire department’s rank and file “for allowing us to go forward with a groundbreaking program.” Berman was referring to an agreement with the firefighters and their union to start new hires at a lower entry-level salary.

Berman said he thinks the village is a trendsetter in the implementation of the Tier II wage scale. “I think that it is an outstanding effort and a wonderful cooperative gesture from our fire service as well.”

The largest part of the budget is salaries, so this will benefit the taxpayers, he said.

Village President Jeffrey Braiman agreed the measure was groundbreaking and mentioned that it was also noteworthy in that nonunion employees get merit-based, pay-for-performance raises.